<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>gifts that money can't buy by writerinthedark4</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28328706">gifts that money can't buy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerinthedark4/pseuds/writerinthedark4'>writerinthedark4</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Amar a Muerte (TV), Juliantina - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon, F/F, Juliantina Christmas Fic, Privacies' World</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:56:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,815</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28328706</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerinthedark4/pseuds/writerinthedark4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Juliana and Valentina's first Christmas together</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Valentina Carvajal/Juliana Valdés</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>gifts that money can't buy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hello friends! merry christmas! here's my gift for you all and a thank you for alllll the love you give me by reading Privacies! And yes, this is in my Privacies' world, so it's a maybe canon fic</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Valentina didn't know how long she had been lost on her computer looking at the millionth website, not knowing exactly what she was looking for, not knowing exactly what kind of gift her girlfriend would like for Christmas.</p><p>Her girlfriend.</p><p>She thought about how good, it felt to think that way, that she was dating a woman, that now it all made some kinda sense, about maybe that was why all her past relationships didn’t work. She was dating a woman right now, something that didn't make much difference, dating a man or woman, but at the same time, it made all the difference.</p><p>Valentina finally felt comfortable in a relationship, felt seen and heard and cared for and protected. She felt her safe haven in Juliana, she felt all of those things about the best person on the planet, and for the person, she woke up every day thanking the universe for loving her back.</p><p>And she loved the person that she was absolutely terrified of not knowing what kind of gift<br/>
to give her.</p><p>Juliana was not very fond of receiving gifts, always the first thing she said was that she didn't need it, or that it wasn't needed. But she was getting better, nowadays she accepted gifts without looking at Valentina with an expression of ‘we’ve talked about this, Val', and now was going straight to ‘thank you, babe’, followed by an eye roll and a shy smile.</p><p>But still, Valentina's gifts were by far the kind of gift that she really wanted to give to Juliana - but she knew her girlfriend would never accept what she had in mind - so she opted for the little things, that she knew that they would satisfy her desire to give presents to Juliana and that they would not make her girlfriend uncomfortable with the money her family had, as Valentina knew that Juliana still felt strange about it.</p><p>"What are you doing on this computer all day, Valentina," Guille entered Valentina's room by surprise, throwing himself on her bed and scaring the chestnut, taking her out of that endless well that was her thoughts. “You have been in the same position since I left home. And that takes about five hours.”</p><p>Valentina looked up from her computer and sighed defeatedly, closing down the screen and moving it up, placing it on her desk. "I was looking for a gift for Juliana," She sighed. "But I can't find anything that she has the potential to like and that isn't overly exaggerated and she ends up hating me secretly." She snorted dramatically.</p><p>"Are you celebrating a special date?" Guille asked interested in the reason for the anguish of the present.</p><p>"Nope." It was Valentina's simple answer.</p><p>"So what exactly is this gift for, Vale?" He asked even more confused, scratching his beard</p><p>"Ahmm.. Christmas?" Valentina replied slowly as if it were obvious.</p><p>Guille looked at his sister with an odd look, one of his eyebrows raised, and took his phone out of the back pocket of his pants, turning on the screen and looking at it quickly before turning it over to his younger sister. "Valentina, today is literally the first of December."</p><p>She shrugged, unaffected. "Your point?"</p><p>Guille snorted smiling, sitting straighter on the bed and looking straight at Valentina, his eyes narrowed. “Vale, Christmas is 24 days from now. Our house isn’t even decorated yet and you’re already stressed, worried about your girlfriend’s gift, who, as we already know, will love anything you give her?”</p><p>He finished chuckling and annoying Valentina even more, who grabbed a pillow and threw it at her brother, exasperated. “Guillermo, if you came here to piss me off you can just turn around and go back to your room! You know Juls doesn't like it when I give her expensive gifts, and more, this will be our first Christmas together! And it will be the first Christmas that I will organize so; it's a  lot. I have to give her the best Christmas present that I have ever given in my life and that she has already received and I have to give the best party and-”</p><p>"Okay, first, Juliana will love any gift you give her," Guillermo tried to reason. "And our Christmas party will be incredible, as it always has been, okay?"</p><p>"I don't remember it being amazing last year." Valentina replied ironically, shaking her head trying to get rid of the memory of what it was like to spend an entire Christmas being technically an orphan since her father was presumed dead.</p><p>Guille looked at her empathically. "Okay, last year was probably one of the worst Christmases we've had, but this year will be different, okay?" He tried to assure her. “And about Juliana, is she going to spend Christmas with us? I thought she was going to spend it with her mother.”</p><p>Valentina ran a hand through her hair, playing with its ends. "I haven't asked her yet, but I'll invite the two of them to come here and celebrate it with us."</p><p>"And do you think she'll say yes?" Guille asked in a sweet voice.</p><p>Valentina shrugged again. "Don’t know. I hope she does. And if she doesn't accept it, I hope she'll accept me there, I really want to spend this first Christmas together, Guille.” She spoke in her small voice. “And especially after our last one. I want to make new memories of it. With Juliana.”</p><p>Guille smiled his half-smile and approached Valentina on the bed, taking her hands in his. “Okay, okay. But have you ever talked about Christmas with her? At any time? Do you know what Juliana's family Christmas was like? If it was just her and her mother? Or if I don't know, it might be a probability that she never had a traditional Christmas... the stories of her father that you told me are not the nicest”</p><p>As soon as the words came out of her brother's mouth, Valentina felt the weight of their meaning on her shoulders.</p><p>They had never talked about that date, and, thinking about what Juliana's life was like before she arrived in Mexico, literally less than a year ago, Valentina could bet that her girlfriend also had no good memories of the festive holiday.</p><p>How stupid was she to never have thought of that before.</p><p>"No, we never talked about it." She finally answered. "God, how insensitive can I be." She martyred herself, slapping her own forehead and sinking into her bed.</p><p>She couldn't see her girlfriend having good Christmases, not having grown up with that man as a father.</p><p>Her family gathered at the table, all laughing and having fun and exchanging gifts, as it was at her house. And she hated the bitter taste in her mouth that thinking about it left her mouth. Juliana deserved the best things the world could offer.</p><p>"You are not insensitive, Vale, quite the contrary, you don’t have a vein of insensitivity in your body," He raised one of Valentina's hands to his face and kissed it. "The reality that she grew up is just very different from ours, you have to put yourself in her shoes a little bit to be able to think about it-"</p><p>"Put me in her shoes a little much you mean." She interrupted her brother, hating anyway that she hadn't thought of that possibility.</p><p>It was she who was the girlfriend, it was she who talked to Juliana every day, it was she who should have thought of that in the first place.</p><p>"Val, no, don't berate yourself," Guille scolded her. “This relationship is new for both of you and you two live in very different worlds, you never had to think about it and I bet Juliana hasn’t either. All the steps you take will be in a new direction for both of you, and you’re not a robot to think of absolutely all the directions and possibilities that you can go through.”</p><p>"I know, Guille," She took her hands back and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I just hate it, I hate it very much every time I remember how she grew up."</p><p>Guille looked at her sympathetically. "I know, hermanita, but there's not much you can do, is there?" He asked as a fact. "What you can do is improve her Christmases in the future, and that you can do." He said smiling at Valentina, who smiled back in agreement.</p><p>"Yes, I can do that." She agreed. Juliana deserved to have the best memories of happy Christmases, and if she never had them, Valentina would make this her main purpose this Christmas: to make the best one her girlfriend has ever had.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>"What is all this about, Val?" Valentina smiled her biggest smile when she heard her girlfriend's voice invade her living room, which was filled with Christmas decorations for a good part of the floor.</p><p>She hadn’t told Juliana what they were going to do when her girlfriend got to her house after finishing her morning studies, which in this case was setting up all the Christmas decorations in her house, at least the interior decorations, and while they were fixing everything, Valentina planned to find out what all the Christmases were like at the Valdés house.</p><p>She also planned to invite Juliana to spend Christmas with her family, an event that this year the number would be reduced, so the more people who could attend the better. Anything to make her feel the warmness that the end of the year’s festivities always left her with.</p><p>"We’re decorating my living room today," Valentina beamed excitedly, getting up from the floor and walking towards her girlfriend, who was placing her bag on one of the armchairs in the living room. "How was your day today?" She asked as soon as she reached Juliana, wrapping her arms around her waist and sinking her face into her neck, joining their bodies, feeling the heat of Juliana's body embrace hers as well and exhaling in a relaxed way.</p><p>At least twice a week they had arranged with her drivers that they would pick Juliana up in the afternoon, as soon as she finished studying what she had to study for the day, and would take her to the chestnut house for them to spend the rest of the day together.</p><p>Those moments were the favorite moments of the blue-eyed woman, who, if she could, would spend every breathing moment with Juliana by her side, absorbing everything that spending time with Juliana could provide her.</p><p>But she knew she couldn't; not yet, at least.</p><p>She and Juliana were still very young, the relationship was very new, and even though Juliana's mother seemed to be really okay with them being together, they didn’t want to risk anything, so the two had resolved to take the relationship slowly when the matter involved the mother of the youngest.</p><p>It had been hard enough when Lupe found out they were in love with each other, they didn't want to remember those horrible times. So they were taking tn slow, at least when they weren't alone.</p><p>That was another situation.</p><p>When they were alone they didn't think about anyone else; because there was no one else when it was just them.</p><p>Between four walls there were only the two, the only problem they had was how they were going to undress each other in the fastest time possible. Their only focus was to map each other's bodies by finding out what made their skin crawl, what made them hold their breath, what made them moan each other's names while they gave each other pleasure.</p><p>And boy, did they like to give each other pleasure.</p><p>Valentina had discovered in the most excruciating way how addictive Juliana was because she knew that she would not be able to do what she wanted to do with her all the time, and that eventually Juliana would have to return to her home and she would have to return to count the hours until she was alone with the black-haired woman again.</p><p>"Nothing special, I just studied," Juliana replied, hugging her back, her hand running down Valentina's back stroking her. "And had we arranged to do any of this today?" She asked when she stepped away from Valentina, who smiled with a shake of her head and leaned over to take Juliana's mouth in hers in a fast, sweet kiss.</p><p>"So you just want to use my free handiwork to get everything up, then?" Juliana joked, moving her mouth away from Valentina's, who had automatically leaned in with her movement and looked at her, a malicious smile coming to her lips.</p><p>She licked her lips, staring at Juliana's, before raising her eyes again to the same level as the black-haired woman and said, “I would rather use your handiwork for another type of occupation, my love, but duty first, the fun part is for later,”</p><p>Valentina finished saying that in her low voice and leaned over, taking Juliana's lips with hers with more strength and precision, but releasing them soon after. She had a mission to accomplish.</p><p>"The more time I spend with you, the more I understand the hot and bothered expression, Valentina," Juliana said and Valentina laughed out loud, tossing a bag towards her girlfriend full of decorative objects.</p><p>"Get down to business Valdés!"</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>"So," Valentina started talking when they were setting up the largest Christmas tree that Juliana had ever seen up close.</p><p>Not that she had seen many, but all that she had seen were not even a third as tall as Valentina's tree. They were, literally, using a four-step ladder to get to the top of the tree and manage to place the ornaments on the highest part.</p><p>"So .." Juliana encouraged her to continue.</p><p>"I realized yesterday that we had never talked about what Christmas was like at your home?" Valentina said and Juliana noticed how she was speaking carefully, slowly, as if she were measuring her words. "Which is strange, because we talk about everything." </p><p>They did. Juliana smiled. "We didn't talk about many things, Val,"</p><p>The chestnut looked at her smiling and took a green ball to put on the tree. "Well, yeah. Which is an even better reason to talk now, isn't it? Now that we’re in the middle of a room that is almost completely decorated and I have been untwining these fairy lights for almost half an hour,” She looked at Juliana and grinned, turning her attention back to the tree, which was already coming to life with balls and bows and others Christmas decorations all over it. “I think it's an ideal time to remember that time. If you want to, of course.”</p><p>Juliana rolled her eyes internally and smiled at how subtle her girlfriend was, and the fact that the more she tried to be subtle the less she was. "What you want to know?"</p><p>"Everything!" Valentina responded quickly, making Juliana look at her with raised eyebrows and a groning beam on her lips. “I mean, the basics, you know. How was your food, if you decorated your house..”</p><p>Juliana wet her lips before answering. "Our Christmases in Texas were basically cold and lived like any other date, after I grew up, I mean," She shrugged. “We had the occasional Christmas decoration when I was little, but I think that Lupe only did it because of me, so that I could get a sense of what it was like to feel the Christmas atmosphere, you know? Not because she liked it that much. After I got older, I didn't care much, and then we didn't put in any more.”</p><p>"You didn’t like them?" Valentina asked, her big blue eyes paying attention to every word that came out of the student's mouth.</p><p>Juliana thought carefully before answering that, because it wasn’t that she didn't like it, she just didn't care so much anymore.</p><p>She still remembered how they had a small tree and how she was always excited to set it up with her mother, especially after seeing how her neighbors' decorations were always bright and colorful. She wanted her home to be the same.</p><p>They just had enough decoration, but Juliana remembered that each year they had more, as a result of the combination from the previous Christmas with the year they were in. She also always used to love to go out with her mother, put on the colored lights outside her house, and then wear huge coats to protect herself from the cold that was San Antonio at that time of year, which made it all the more magical for her, and go visit the city all decorated.</p><p>Christmas was Juliana's favorite time when she was younger, and it continued to be after she grew up, because she realized that her house didn't need to be decorated and full of lights as her neighbors' houses were. She could appreciate the decorations of her city, which were huge, and each year they’d get brighter and bigger.</p><p>Juliana would think that the older she got, the more she would hate Christmas, just as she hated any other holiday that her father always ruined, but she didn’t. </p><p>Of course, she’d have shitty ones, but she also remembers good ones, when it was only her and Lupe, all cozied up together in their living room, watching some Christmas movie, enjoying every single moment that her father was out away doing some of his secrets, not so secret anymore, jobs.</p><p>Juliana doesn't remember when it started, probably since Chino destroyed the last tree they had at home after he arrived in the trailer one day, drunk and angry with the world after losing money in another betting game, Juliana started to appreciate more the beauty of the things that weren’t around her, because those things remained beautiful away from the destructive power of the abnormal hatred that her father felt for everything and everyone.</p><p>So Christmas remained one of her favorite dates, even though as a teenager she technically didn't celebrate it anymore. She still loved to leave her home alone and walk around the city, to see how dizzy and mesmerized the children were by the dancing lights on a night lit by the moon and Christmas decorations.</p><p>This year, she didn’t know why, despite having a great suggestion of why, but she felt it would be a good Christmas, and that it would be the first Christmas of many that she would never forget.</p><p>"I love Christmas," she replied after a while. "I always loved it as a child and it's one of my favorite festive dates," She smiled at Valentina, handing her other decorations for the tree. "Lupe made a greater effort to keep the decorations inside the house as much as she could, obviously Chino didn't like it, but she kept it just because of me, she wasn't a big fan either."</p><p>Valentina opened her eyes wider. “I can't understand someone who doesn't like Christmas decorations.</p><p>Juliana laughed lightly when she heard that. "I can't imagine you imagining it either, Val," She leaned over as Valentina grabbed bows and pecked her lips. "I imagine you always had the biggest and the brightest, full of gifts, Christmas."</p><p>Valentina shrugged and twisted her mouth, turning to put her attention on the tree as she kept on decorating it. “Well, it was no big deal either. It was like any Christmas with families together, I suppose.”</p><p>Juliana snorted, throwing a tiny Christmas decoration gift at her girlfriend. "Val, you don't have to cut back on your Christmas celebrations, I'm sure and I can imagine how huge they were." Valentina turned to Juliana with a short smile on her lips. "You and your family were not to blame for my being born where I was born, so don't diminish your experiences just because I may not have lived a similar one as a child." Juliana tried to reason. “Most likely, I didn't really live them, and it’s fine. It was the only reality I knew, so it’s like I missed anything.”</p><p>Valentina muttered quietly and sat down next to Juliana on the floor again, biting her lip and smiling. "You are so much more mature than me." She reached out until she could put  Juliana's hair behind her ear. "Sometimes I forget that you’re only 19."</p><p>Upon hearing that Juliana could not help but laugh out loud again, throwing her head back and clapping her hands together. "You talk like you're much older than me!"</p><p>Valentina beamed in amusement. "I am! Three years is a lot, Juls,” She rolled her eyes,  grinning at her girlfriend.</p><p>"That's not much, Val, and I'm not more mature than you are," She shrugged. "I think...  we just grew up in very different environments and that gave us other perspectives."</p><p>"See?!" The blue-eyed woman pointed an index finger at her in accusation. "I would never say anything like that!"</p><p>With that Juliana chuckled shyly again, shaking her head and went down on her knees, walking over to Valentina and leaning over to her, her hands on the older woman's neck holding her gently while their mouths touched in a chaste and long kiss.</p><p>"Do you want to spend Christmas with me?" Valentina asked with their lips still glued, her hands on Juliana's waist and her thumbs making circular movements, calming Juliana's nerves that were always on edge when they were close together.</p><p>"What?" The student moved away a little, their noses almost touching and their eyes fixed on each other.</p><p>Valentina licked her lips before saying again. “Spend Christmas with me. You and your mother, with me and my family." She smiled nervously. "Well, with me, Guille and Mateo and Dani, Camilo and his family, Chivis and her husband.. I suppose. Half the family." She spoke in a low voice, looking distant for two seconds and then looking at Juliana again, blinking fast and smiling.</p><p>Juliana sat on her shins and took Valentina's hands in hers, placing them on top of her thighs, and smiled sweetly at her girlfriend. "Are you serious?"</p><p>Valentina nodded, her eyes fixed on Julianas, a shy smile living on her lips. “Of course I am, Juls. There is nothing I want more than to spend one of my favorite dates with my favorite person.” She assured Juliana. “And I really want to celebrate this Christmas and make good memories. My last Christmas was not the best.”</p><p>Juliana pouted involuntarily when Valentina remembered that their last Christmas was, in fact, a nightmare. Juliana was already used to not creating many expectations, but her girlfriend was a different case, and the last Christmas was the first Christmas she had spent after what she thought her father had been murdered for.</p><p>"I imagine it wasn't..." She stroked Valentina's face, who was still looking at her intently.</p><p>"So.." The journalism student asked again, but Juliana didn't know what to say.</p><p>Did she want to spend Christmas with her girlfriend? Hell yeah. But she also wanted to spend time with her mother, she just needed to figure out if her mother would also want to spend time with them. She hoped so, because the answer was already out of her mouth before she could control it. "Yes, we will spend Christmas here."</p><p>Juliana raised her hands to her ears when Valentina gave the loudest squeal she had ever heard, and when she saw herself she was being hugged by her girlfriend and lying on the floor, Valentina's body on top of hers thanking her endlessly for accepting it while filling Juliana's face with kisses.</p><p>"This will be the best Christmas we will ever have!" Valentina said happily and captured Juliana's lips in a kiss that started between laughs that escaped their throats and clumsy hands wandering over their bodies.</p><p>Juliana would do anything to make Valentina happy like that, and if spending Christmas with her made her feel like this, she wanted every day to be Christmas.</p><p>And that her mother would agree to spend the holiday at the mansion as well.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>December did not take long to pass and when Valentina realized she was already in the middle of the last month of the year and she still had no idea what to give to Juliana, and that was taking her sleep away.</p><p>And worse - and better at the same time, it depends on the angle that the person looked at - Lupe and Panchito would be coming together too, that is, now in addition to a gift for her girlfriend, she had the pressure of her mother-in-law to like the gift she had chosen for her - a simple gold necklace that was not very expensive, in case anyone asked, and that she knew was something simple and sure to give to someone, she just didn't know if that definition fit her mother-in-law.</p><p>She had already bought everyone's gift. From her brothers and her baby niece and her brother-in-law. For her father (that she had no idea when she’d be able to give it to him) and her employees and for close friends of the family. Everything for the celebration was ready, the party was already organized, people confirmed, dinner was chosen.</p><p>The only thing she couldn't think of to give was Juliana's gift. It had been almost twenty days since she started thinking and nothing, absolutely nothing that went through her head was good enough for Juliana.</p><p>"It shouldn't be that hard," she whispered, massaging the side of her head.</p><p>"What shouldn't be that hard?" Valentina was startled by Juliana's voice entering the room in a towel, her wet hair dripping on her bedroom floor.</p><p>Valentina propped herself up on her elbows, lying on the bed, just the blanket on her girlfriend's bed covering her body only covered by a large T-shirt. She looked Juliana up and down, her mouth half-open, until her gaze locked on Juliana's again, who shortly afterward shook her head in denial, smiling and walked over to her bedroom wardrobe. "What?"</p><p>"It shouldn't be that hard for me to hang on here, alone and abandoned in this room while you're naked just two doors behind me." She replied looking at Juliana's back, her breath catching when she saw that Juliana dropped the towel that fell on the floor, forming a puddle around her feet.</p><p>"I was naked here with you not even half an hour ago," Juliana responded as fact, putting on black panties up her legs and fixing it on her body.</p><p>"Your point being..?" Valentina asked without taking her eyes off her girlfriend's body.</p><p>"My point being," Juliana started to answer as she took a white strapless shirt and ran it over her head. "My point is that you are insatiable, apparently."</p><p>Valentina laughed and got up from the bed, going towards Juliana and hugging her from behind, giving small kisses on the back of her neck. "This is your fault."</p><p>"My fault?" Juliana chuckled and leaned her head against Valentina's shoulder, tilting her neck more so that the blue-eyed woman had more space to explore her. "How is this my fault-"</p><p>Valentina turned Juliana over before she could finish speaking and leaned her against the wardrobe door. Her hands went under the black-haired woman's freshly placed blouse and she scratched her nails against the sensitive skin of Juliana's belly, which closed her eyes biting her lips, feeling an already known electricity run through her body when Valentina was that close while they were alone and looking at her like that.</p><p>"You don't have any morals to talk about my insatiability," She kissed Juliana's jaw, rising to her ear with small, short, wet kisses. "We already found out that you have a similar one to mine." She said stopping kissing and staring at her, rubbing their noses together and making Juliana laugh lightly.</p><p>Juliana put her hands on Valentina's waist, also under her shirt, and pulled their two bodies closer together, smoothing the area of her hips slowly.</p><p>Valentina liked to joke about the fact that Juliana had her sex life awakened with her, but this was a game that two could play. And one that Juliana was very good at playing.</p><p>"I never said it wasn't," Juliana leaned over and kissed Valentina's lips one, two, three times, her hands were inside Valentina's blouse, right over her waist making light movements with her fingers, going up and down her back.</p><p>It didn't last long until Valentina exhaled a heavy breath and put her head on Juliana's shoulder, squeezing her more tightly in a hug and said quietly, "I'm so, so happy that you're going to be with me this Christmas, Juls."</p><p>Juliana smiled at the change in their atmosphere and kissed the side of her head. "Me too, love." She said quietly, moving her hands further under Valentina's shirt, stroking her bare back more. "I'm really happy that I'm going to spend it with you and Lupe."</p><p>"And it will be the first of many and many and many," Valentina said, making Juliana laugh and tighten her grip, releasing her seconds later and taking Valentina's face in her hands, staring into her eyes.</p><p>"I bet it will," Valentina couldn't help but smile more, her face almost partying in two as a smile broke through her face when she heard that and sank back into Juliana. The only place she would sink in without worrying about drowning trying to find a way out, she could be lost in Juliana forever.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Christmas Eve had finally arrived and Valentina was restless. December had flown by with her barely able to see Juliana, due to the black-haired woman wanting to study a little more harder since her tests were a few weeks away.</p><p>But staying away from Juliana like that was proving to be the real test they had to pass. Well, at least for Valentina, the woman with the blue eyes knew that the tests her girlfriend was going to take were obviously more important than this attack of longing she was having.</p><p>Although they didn’t see each other so much in person, they were always speaking via messages or calling or video calling. There was not a single night that Valentina slept without having the last feat of the day to have heard her girlfriend's voice.</p><p>She could move mountains so that she could hear Juliana's voice by her side every night, but for now, on the phone, it was what she had, and that was where she would deposit her daily dose of the black-haired woman.</p><p>Everything was ready in the external living room. The table was already set. Most of the guests were already in the main room, the presents were already under the tree that she and Juliana had set up... well, almost everyone’s gifts. Juliana's gift was elsewhere, which she hoped she and her girlfriend could go to today because otherwise, Valentina's whole plan would go down the drain.</p><p>“I am leaving home, I will be there in a few (;”</p><p>That was what read the message Juliana had sent her fifteen minutes ago, and that alone was enough for Valentina's mind to start racing at an hour's pace.</p><p>Everything was ready and organized and perfect, and everything had to go as Valentina had thought and as she had planned since the month started. That year's Christmas would be a Christmas of new beginnings, literally, for both families.</p><p>It would be the first Christmas without Eva. It would be the first Christmas without Lucía. It would be the first Christmas without her father, knowing that he’s alive. It would be their first Christmas without them having several guests as it was every year, but with that, Valentina was strangely okay with that change. She wanted a Christmas just with family and friends that she felt comfortable with. And that was what she would have, since Guille didn’t mind that much.</p><p>After looking in the mirror again and not seeing any more defects in her clothes or makeup, Valentina decided to go down and join everyone and check everything again to see if everything was okay. What she already knew it was, because she had seen it three times before.</p><p>"I thought you weren't going to come down anymore, Vale," Mateo approached her as soon as she finished walking down the stairs with Dani sleeping in his arms.</p><p>Dani was three months old but she was still so small that she could be mistaken for a newborn, and it broke Valentina's heart even more, to see her little niece so small and not even be able to be fed as she should, since Eva was in jail.</p><p>Her sister only stayed with her daughter for a little over a month, the plan was Dani to stay with her until she was six months old and be breastfed for as long as she could, but Eva hated that situation, hated having to breastfeed her daughter being in jail, so shortly after Dani was one month old, her sister asked Mateo to take her out of there. She didn't want her daughter to spend so much time in that horrible environment.</p><p>And then Valentina suffered twice. Three times. One because her sister was in prison, two because her baby was away from her and three, this situation reminded her of her own childhood after her mother died, so she tried her best not to think too much about that at all.</p><p>She’d rather think that her niece was with them and healthy, her sister was doing as well as possible, and one day Dani will have her mother by her side again and for the rest of her life.</p><p>"She’s so beautiful, Mateo," Valentina said quietly, approaching them and touching her niece's face gently with her index finger. "She’s so delicate, she looks like she will break at any moment."</p><p>Mateo laughed. "I hope she doesn't, Vale, your sister would kill me while in jail."</p><p>She knew he was kidding, but Valentina was unable to stop the chill that ran down her spine. Eva in jail reminded her of the reasons she was in there, and she honestly didn't like to think about what her sister might be capable of. "She would never do that," she said quietly, still looking at her niece. "And of course I was coming down, I need to see how my party is doing." She looked up to meet Mateo's stare and gave her most sincere smile.</p><p>"Your party is incredible, as we all knew it would be," Mateo said. "I'm going to leave this little girl asleep in the room upstairs and come back in a few," He winked at the chestnut and passed her, up the stairs.</p><p>Valentina kept walking until she was outside where the party would be held, saying hi to the few guests who were in the place and going straight to her brother and Renata, who had also been invited for Christmas this year, as well as her parents. "Is everything okay here?" She asked, smiling, intertwining her arm with her brother's.</p><p>"Everything's perfect, Val," Guille kissed her on the cheek. "I said that all your stress would be in vain, everything would be fine,"</p><p>"He's right, Val," Renata said in agreement with her boyfriend. “Everything is really beautiful, and the food's smell is making me really hungry,”</p><p>She laughed at that. "Well, even though I’m not cooking anything I’m glad you’re liking it, Renata," She left Guille's embrace and went to Renata, greeting her and then hugged her parents, who also said how nice everything was.</p><p>Valentina smiled, nervous. "I appreciate the compliments, Chivis also helped me to set this whole thing up, so I’ll pass the compliments on to her too, she will be very happy,"</p><p>"Well," Guille interrupted her. "Someone will be even happier now,"</p><p>Valentina frowned at her brother, who just pointed his chin forward and when she turned around, she saw the person she was most anxious to see at the party, and her breath caught when she saw the image of Juliana approaching hers with a shy smile on her lips, pulling the loose hair that was flying on her face thanks to the wind.</p><p>She was wearing a simple, long red dress, with only two straps holding it to her body, which was being hugged in each corner by the delicate fabric of the piece. Juliana was breathtaking, and Valentina wished more than anything that they were alone at that moment so that she could demonstrate how beautiful she was.</p><p>"Juls," She said almost in a sigh when Juliana came in front of her, cradling her in a hug and making Valentina be invaded by the smell of her sweet perfume and her citrus fruit shampoo. "You look gorgeus?"</p><p>Juliana laughed as she left the embrace and faced Valentina. "Was that a compliment?"</p><p>"Of course it was, Juls," She tucked a lock of the student's hair behind her ear. "You look breathtaking."</p><p>Valentina leaned over and whispered that in Juliana's ear, who beamed and sank into the student hugging her tighter. "You look beautiful too," Juliana said, breaking the hug and kissing her cheek. "But that’s never news," she whispered in the journalism student's ear before letting go completely and going to hug Guille and say hi to the rest of the guests.</p><p>"Lupe, Panchito" Valentina greeted the two with a hug. “I'm so glad you're here!” Valentina said, taking the woman's hand and giving it a light squeeze. "I’m very, very happy that you and Juliana are spending the holiday with me this year."</p><p>"And I'm glad we were invited," Lupe said smiling. “And thankful that we can be part of something so special to your family.” She leaned more closer to Valentina. “And Juliana spent the whole day on nerves thinking about arriving soon, not wanting to be late. I'm sure that if you didn't invite her, she would have invited you and you would be at home with us.”</p><p>Valentina smiled bigger than her face could handle. "And I would have gone, for sure," Valentina added quickly. “I like to spend the holidays with the people I love and… they’re almost all here. So thanks for coming,” She finished saying. "Both! You too, Panchito.”</p><p>While the man also thanked for the invitation, Valentina felt a hand touch her waist until it was on her hip, and she grinned when she saw Juliana at her side, with also the biggest smile on her face, the smile that was capable of making Valentina's legs become weak and wobbly. "Everything looks so nice, Val,"</p><p>Juliana leaned over and kissed Valentina on the shoulder, who closed her eyes when she felt the quick touch of Juliana's warm lips on her bare skin. "Thank you, Juls," she whispered, smiling shyly at her.</p><p>She doesn't know how long she was staring at Juliana, or Juliana's lips and Juliana's eyes, but they were soon interrupted from the trance they were in when they heard Lupe clear her throat and tell her that she was going to sit with Camilo, who she now knew thanks to Valentina having introduced them, and Valentina couldn’t thank her enough and explain how much she wanted to be able to drag Juliana into the house so that they could be a little alone.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>"Where are you taking me," Juliana asked chuckling as she was being pulled by Valentina's hand into the house, which exuded a delicious smell from the kitchen.</p><p>To say that she was nervous about spending the night with Valentina and their families together at her home was an understatement. Juliana was terrified, which was ridiculous since she already knew that Guille, Renata and Mateo loved her, and that her mother and Valentina were walking to have a very good relationship.</p><p>Lupita was already used to the fact that Juliana was in love with a woman, that was no longer a reason for uncomfortable silences or anything like that, but, Lupita was still opening up to the relationship when it came to their displays of affection in public, something they tried not to do all the time, always keeping their hands visible when they were in Lupita's presence.</p><p>And it's not like Lupita ever complained, maybe she was even 100% okay with these displays of affection, but Juliana never had the courage to ask, because she didn't know how she would ask. 'Hey, mom, is it okay if I kiss my girlfriend in front of you?' Nah, it seemed too... too much for Juliana yet. Nor did she know if she wanted to kiss her girlfriend in front of her mother.</p><p>And maybe that's why she was letting herself be taken away by Valentina somewhere inside the house, watching as her girlfriend was literally shining even only being able to see her back in a long yellow dress with light brown details that fluttered as Valentina guided her through the mansion.</p><p>She still hadn't stopped to be able to absorb how gorgeous Valentina was. She would never get used to how much Valentina was just the most beautiful woman she had already seen in her life - and how that beauty was only Juliana who could appreciate up close, because, being selfish (with pleasure), Valentina was only hers.</p><p>And just thinking about that made her feel an electrical charge pass through her body. They had been together for more than six months, but the idea of Valentina being hers alone still made her belly turn full into butterflies, made her want to laugh with happiness just like a child opening her new gift on a Christmas morning.</p><p>The only difference was that they were not children, and Juliana could do with Valentina much, much more than she could ever imagine doing, because Valentina loved her. And that made Juliana more nervous than anything in her life. Being loved by Valentina Carvajal was her greatest gift and her greatest curse, because now Juliana could no longer see herself without the blue-eyed woman. And that was a lot of power for one person, but Juliana didn't care. She would give Valentina all the power she wanted.</p><p>"Did what you had to tell me really have to be inside your room?" She asked again giggling when she saw that they were going up the stairs and going to her room.</p><p>"No," Valentina said euphorically, closing the bedroom door behind her. "But this could only have been done here,"</p><p>Valentina finished saying with her mouth already against Juliana's, one hand on her waist and the other hand on the back of her neck, making the student shiver with the strength that Valentina was holding her while their mouths moved in a kiss heated and full of purpose.</p><p>Valentina's hand on her waist tightened, bringing a trail of heat to the middle of her legs as Valentina's tongue came into contact with hers, her stomach turned in desire and want and Juliana supported her two hands on her waist, bringing their bodies more impossibly close.</p><p>The heat that Juliana felt emanating from Valentina's body glued to hers was able to warm up all the people who were present in the house. But Juliana wanted it just for her, and she wanted it now.</p><p>She started walking with Valentina until the chestnut back hit the bedroom wall and Valentina answered the hit with a muffled groan, resulting in Juliana increasing the intensity of the kiss making it more urgent and more passionate.</p><p>Their tongues moved against each other in a dance already known between the two, her hands roamed the slim body of her girlfriend from the bottom up, until they reach her breasts and she squeezed them with conviction, making the moan that Valentina released be bigger and huskier and Juliana disconnected their mouths at that moment, remembering that they were in the middle of a party, that their families were down there. They couldn't lose their composure like that, no matter how much Juliana's body screamed, begging them to continue.</p><p>"Is this my Christmas present?" Juliana asked breathlessly, her forehead against Valentina's, who was as breathless as she was.</p><p>"No," Valentina giggled breathlessly. "But that's part of the reason I brought you here," She leaned over and gave Juliana another kiss and then left the space between her girlfriend and the wall, making Juliana miss the contact almost instantly.</p><p>"What are we doing here?" She turned at last, finding a smiling Valentina as she straightened her dress and ran her fingers over the edges of her mouth, Juliana observing the movement almost in a trance.</p><p>Kissing Valentina would never be tiring.</p><p>“I brought you here because I need you to do something for me,” Valentina said, looking intensely at Juliana, who felt small when Valentina's attention was on her like that, in a dimly lit room and she was dressed as if she were a Greek goddess.</p><p>"Can I say something before," She approached Valentina again, placing a lock of her long brown hair behind her shoulder and fixing her gaze on Valentina's baby blue eyes, letting herself be lost for a moment in the almost ethereal beauty of the woman she could call her own.</p><p>The makeup she was wearing was basic, just like all the makeup Valentina liked to wear, and it's not like she needed it either - Valentina was ridiculously beautiful with a clean face, with nothing covering her perfect baby skin.</p><p>Her long face was covered by the softest skin Juliana had ever touched, her lips pink and full and addictive. Juliana sometimes just wanted to kiss and kiss and kiss Valentina. She raised her hands and wiped the light pink lipstick that was smudged thanks to the kiss they exchanged not even two minutes ago.</p><p>"What?" Valentina whispered looking at Juliana and Juliana smiled remembering that she had something to say.</p><p>"I just wanted to tell you how absurdly beautiful you look today, Valentina," Juliana stroked the chestnut's face, which tilted her head to feel more of her girlfriend's touch against her skin, her lips opening up a little. "Like, I don't think I've ever seen you look so beautiful, and I see you look beautiful every day."</p><p>"Juls," Valentina whispered and tilted her head forward, laughing softly, while disguising the likely blush that had painted her skin as it always did when Juliana praised her.</p><p>"What?" Juliana asked, chuckling and lifting Valentina's head with both hands, leaning over and taking her lips with her in a simple kiss. "It's true," She held her face. "You look stunning." She whispered. "I am so lucky to have you."</p><p>“Oh my god, stop it,” Valentina threw herself at Juliana, hugging her, embarrassed while Juliana laughed freely, loving when she left her girlfriend speechless, and those were rare moments.</p><p>"Okay, okay, I'll stop," She smiled, stroking Valentina's back as she hugged her. "Now tell me what you want from me, your guests must be finding this disappearance a little bit weird."</p><p>Valentina came out of the embrace smiling. "Nah, they know that I'm with you."</p><p>Juliana wrinkled her nose. "I don't know if this is a good thing, Val, I don't want to imagine what's on their mind." She pretended to shiver when she said that, her shoulders rising and falling.</p><p>"I want you to tell your mother sometime tonight that you're going to sleep here." Valentina spoke seriously out of nowhere, making Juliana raise an eyebrow. “With me.”</p><p>"And will I sleep here..?"</p><p>"No," Valentina replied simply and pointed with her finger to the corner of the bed, where Juliana saw a large backpack ready and closed, looking like it was full of stuff inside. “We are going… I want to take you somewhere. But you’ll tell your mom that you’re going to sleep here.”</p><p>Juliana was confused. Where did Valentina want to take her? "Are we going away?"</p><p>Valentina shook her head. “No, babe, don't ask me questions, okay? I won’t answer them, just tell your mother that you’re going to sleep here and you’ll be back on the weekend.” Valentina looked at her hopefully. "Can you do that for me?"</p><p>Juliana rolled her eyes in amusement and leaned over, catching Valentina's lips with hers quickly. "Of course, love, I'll talk to her."</p><p>Valentina opened her biggest smile and wrapped Juliana in a hug again. "Gracias, love," She spoke in Juliana's ear.</p><p>"Anything for you, Val,"</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>After they got back to the party, everything happened naturally. The guests talked among themselves, the families were at the table laughing and telling stories.</p><p>Valentina was sitting next to Juliana throughout the whole night, their hands together, Juliana's finger caressing the back of her hand, calming her, with Valentina not knowing how Juliana knew, but she knew Juliana felt that she was nervous and anxious.</p><p>She had asked Valentina countless times if she was okay, if she needed anything. She praised the food and decoration of the party, and how well everything was going.</p><p>And for everything Valentina just replied thanks and thanked her smiling, but nothing that her girlfriend would do could remove the lump that was in her throat. Some things only specific people could solve, and not all the affection and attention that Juliana was giving her today seemed to have the effect of calming her down 100%.</p><p>At some point, a few hours after everyone had eaten all the food and were scattered in the garden enjoying the final moments of that evening, Valentina excused herself to go to the bathroom and took her phone hidden, in a single attempt to try to connect with her father.</p><p>They had last spoken to each other for a few weeks now, and the last time they had contact, León had promised that he would call Valentina and wish her and Guille a happy Christmas. But that hadn't happened all night, and although Valentina said she would wait for his contact first, she couldn't wait any longer.</p><p>She needed to hear her father's voice wishing a happy Christmas, however silly and small it seemed. After the previous one, when she thought he was dead and that she passed out from drinking so much in her room, alone, on one of the nights she loved most in the year... she needed to hear from her father that everything was fine. That he was fine and that he loved and missed her.</p><p>She went to the social bathroom on the first floor of the house and locked herself in it, turning her phone screen over and unlocking it, her heart racing when she realized there was a message from him. There was no missed call, but there was a message from him, and that was enough.</p><p>She sat on the toilet in the bathroom and opened the messaging app by going straight into the conversation and seeing that it was a one minute and twelve second voice message.</p><p>She took a deep breath and pressed play, taking the phone to her ear to hear her father's voice better but she couldn't stand to hear more than twenty seconds of audio, taking her phone to her lap and covering her mouth with her free hand, muffling the sob that was coming out of her now, unable to contain it.</p><p>She knew that her father was alive. Knew he was fine. He had contacted her, as she had asked so she could stop missing him all the time, so she could stop from longing to hear his voice. It had just only a little problem. </p><p>She had just forgotten that it was not her father's voice.</p><p>It was her father, it was León, but it wasn’t León's voice. It wasn't the voice that put her to bed at night when she was a kid, it wasn't the voice that scolded her when she did something wrong. It wasn't the voice that soothed her, that reminded her of home, that comforted her. It was her father, she knew that, but it wasn’t her father's voice. It wasn’t the voice she wanted to hear.</p><p>And all she wanted to hear this Christmas was her father's voice.</p><p>And there she realized that her Christmas couldn’t be perfect no matter how hard she tried, as much as she perfected all the details, as much as everyone was laughing in the outer room, her family was not complete.</p><p>Her shoulders went up and down as the uncontrollable crying took over her body and she had no more strength and no longer wanted to hold it in. There was no reason for her to do that, unless someone tried to get into the bathroom, as was happening now.</p><p>Someone was knocking on the bathroom door, calling for her, and Valentina felt her chest heaving when she realized it was Juliana. Had she spent enough time inside that her girlfriend had to look for her already?</p><p>"I'm leaving in a minute, babe," She said as loudly as she could without denouncing her choked voice, and got up from the toilet, going to the sink and wiping her face. Screw her makeup. </p><p>Juliana kept knocking on the door, asking to enter. "Juls, I'm leaving, just give me one minute,"</p><p>She said again, and after drying her face on a towel, she opened the door but couldn't even get out of the place, as she was already being dragged by Juliana again and being locked inside the bathroom with her.</p><p>Her girlfriend had a worried expression on her face and Valentina couldn't stand to look at her. She didn’t want to face Juliana with that face that was swollen from crying. She just wanted to go back to the party and go to the place where she had prepared everything for the end of their night to be incredible, and for Juliana to have a memorable Christmas.</p><p>She didn't want her girlfriend to worry about her. But it was already too late.</p><p>"Are you going to tell me why you're crying or are we going to have to be stuck here all night until you tell me?" Juliana asked, breaking the silence of the environment and making Valentina chuckle with the delicacy of the question.</p><p>"It was nothing, Juls, I just heard an audio from my dad and I just miss him so much," It was a half-truth.</p><p>"Val, I could hear you sobbing outside," Juliana said in a low, delicate voice, her hand going up to Valentina's face who had an expression of surprise upon hearing that.</p><p>'What do you mean, Juls?” She asked, feeling the lump in her throat being formed again.</p><p>“Babe,” Juliana made a pained face and moved closer to Valentina, lifting her head so that her eyes were level. “I felt like you were a little distant from the whole party. I just thought we could talk about it later, but you came to cry in the bathroom-”</p><p>"I didn't come to cry in the bathroom Juls," Valentina replied as a tear fell on her cheek. "I received an audio from my father wishing me a Merry Christmas and I collapsed, that's all." She wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I'm fine."</p><p>"Did he tell you something you didn't like?" Juliana asked with a delicacy in her voice that was breaking Valentina little by little. "Val, your eyes are so, so sad, you're not like that just because you miss him."</p><p>Valentina laughed humorlessly and rolled her eyes, causing more tears to fall as she explained herself. "It's ridiculous," She ran a hand over her nose-wiping it off. "I just expected something different when I heard my dad's audio, but, forget it, Juls," She waved her hand in front of Juliana. "I’m just a little too emotional today, let's go back to the party,"</p><p>Valentina tried to pass over but Juliana stopped her. "Juls-"</p><p>"Let me hear the audio?" Juliana asked, extending her hand.</p><p>"For what?" Valentina asked, confused. "You don't even like hearing your father's voice, Juls, hearing this will only leave you-"</p><p>"You were crying because you heard Chino's voice," Juliana spoke slowly, as if the reason for the tears were gradually making sense. "You miss your father's voice, not mine’s,”</p><p>Valentina opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out of it. She couldn’t deny that, as her expression had already sold her out. So she just did what she could without collapsing there, in front of the black-haired woman. She shrugged as another rebel tear escaped her eyes and right then Juliana extended her arms pouting and Valentina couldn’t hold it together anymore, and threw herself into the embrace, wrapping herself in a tight hug, wrapping herself up and crying on her girlfriend's neck. "I'm really happy that he answered me, Juls, but I just wanted to hear his voice,"</p><p>“I clicked to hear the audio so fast and it just hit me bad and hard that it wasn't my father's voice and it irrationally just made me think that it wasn't him there, and then it came all at once. Me remembering the attempt at his wedding, remembering Lucía’s scream and remembering Eva, I remembered everything,” She sobbed and Juliana wrapped her harder, kissing the side of her head and squeezing her as tight as she could. “I just wanted this Christmas to be something good and new for all of us but-”</p><p>"It is babe, it is a new beginning for all of us. And I'm sorry, my love, I’m so sorry you’re going through this tonight," Juliana said quietly, her hand caressing the blue-eyed woman's back. "I know how much you miss him, and I wish he was here with you today just to make you happier."</p><p>Valentina laughed lightly at that. "I'm happy, Juls,"  She sniffed. “My father may not be here with me, but you are, you are here with me, that is enough. I'm just a little more emotional today.”</p><p>"Just today, right?" Juliana asked jokingly, making Valentina giggle and leave the embrace smiling, with Juliana running her hands over her face wiping away the rest of her tears.</p><p>Valentina took Juliana's face in her hands and leaned down to kiss her lips, stopping for a few seconds just living the moment to feel her girlfriend's soft lips against hers. "Can we go now?" She whispered on Juliana's lips, who nodded.</p><p>“Yes, I already told my mother that I'm going to stay here and that's fine with her. She was showing everyone the necklace you gave her as a gift, she loved it.” Juliana said with a huge smile on her face, which just didn't match Valentina's because she was more relieved than happy at that moment.</p><p>Her mother-in-law had liked the gift she had bought for herself. That was something. "I'm so relieved to hear this, you have no idea, Juls," She chuckled and took Juliana's hand, walking out into the mansion's main room, "Let's say goodbye to everyone and go up and wait for everyone to leave so I can kidnap you and then we can exchange our gifts, okay?”</p><p>Juliana nodded, smiling. “Okay, can you go ahead first? I need to say something to Chivis real quick,” Juliana leaned over and kissed Valentina on the cheek before leaving for the kitchen, without telling Valentina exactly what she was going to do.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, wow, I thought I would never see this scene," Juliana said chuckling as she stepped into the passenger side of the car, while Valentina took the driver's seat, already with her clothes changed, wearing a sweatshirt and a thin-strapped blouse, her hair stuck in a loose high bun.</p><p>"Your hot girlfriend driving?" Valentina asked jokingly, smiling as she saw Juliana's reaction upon hearing that.</p><p>"I was thinking just that, babe," She rolled her eyes in amusement, putting on her seat belt. "Where are you kidnapping me to?"</p><p>"You'll see," Valentina replied, adjusting the rearview mirror and starting the car.</p><p>"Okay, this is very odd, Valentina," Juliana said holding on to her belt. "You really know how to drive, right?" She teased her girlfriend.</p><p>Valentina rolled her eyes in amusement. "I took my license when I turned 18, Juliana,"</p><p>"It doesn't mean much," Juliana joked and Valentina laughed out loud at that.</p><p>"If you complain one more time, you’re walking," She glanced at her girlfriend quickly, and focused her eyes on the road again. "We won't be long."</p><p>"If we get there alive," Juliana whispered, looking out her window.</p><p>"Shut up," Valentina laughed and kept on driving to their destination.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Juliana was recognizing the path that Valentina was taking her. Even though she only went to the place once, she would never forget the ways to get there.</p><p>Valle's house. The place they went when they finally had their first time together, and that had been promised as a place that would be theirs alone, their little sanctuary, a nest just for the two of them to exist, and that was spoiled by people she preferred not to remember that moment.</p><p>"What are we doing here?" She asked when Valentina was parking in front of the house.</p><p>Valentina turned to her and smiled shyly, turning off the car and taking off her belt. "We’re going to spend the night here today,"</p><p>Juliana's face lit up when she heard that. "You serious?" She asked, discredited.</p><p>Valentina nodded. "Yes my love. And today it will be just the two of us, no one will ruin this night.”</p><p>Juliana smiled more when the last words came out of Valentina's mouth and she took off her belt, leaning right after towards the other woman and planting a sweet kiss on her lips. "I couldn't choose a better place to end the night together with my favorite person." She kissed Valentina one last time and opened the car door, followed by the blue-eyed shortly after.</p><p>"Wait, wait," Valentina took Juliana's arm, preventing her from walking further when the black-haired woman was already in front of the house.</p><p>"What?" She chuckled and turned to face Valentina, who had an anxious expression on her face, biting her lower lip. "What, Val?"</p><p>"Here," Valentina took Juliana's hand and with the other, with a closed fist, placed it on top of Juliana's hand and placed an object inside, closing Juliana's hand right away and looking deep into her eyes. "This here," She started to say, "This here's for you to be able to make other, more incredible memories, with me and this house, because that was our original idea, remember?"</p><p>Valentina asked looking intensely at Juliana that she thought she would turn a puddle right there on the floor. "Only we were interrupted... and then the rest was basically tragedy," She laughed awkwardly and raised her hand to put a strand of Juliana's hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek soon after.</p><p>“So today and tomorrow it will be for us to make new memories, good memories, for us to reframe this space because it will really be our special getaway, and I’ll want to bring you here whenever you feel pressured in college, or for any other reason, and I’ll want to come here when I feel pressured and,” She licked her lips, before continuing. "And that's it. What you see inside is your Christmas present. Or a part of it,” She smiled awkwardly. "Shall we?"</p><p>Juliana just nodded, a shy smile on her lips. She leaned over and kissed Valentina on the lips softly. "Anywhere I'm with you will be special, Val. It doesn't matter if it's going to be here or anywhere else, okay?" She smiled and kissed Valentina again, turning around afterward and opening her hand, realizing that there was a key in it, probably the one for the house.</p><p>"This key is just to symbolize that you have the key to everything in my life, mainly my heart. And my mind and.. I don’t know. I’m literally yours, Juls." Valentina said a little embarrassed and Juliana giggled at her girlfriend's face, which was turning red. "That sounded smarter and more romantic in my head,"</p><p>"It was really romantic to me," Juliana beamed and opened the house with the key in hand, but stopped right after the entrance after she realized how the interior of the house was.</p><p>There were Christmas decorations all over the space, there were flower arrangements and, in the living room, there was a space on the floor organized with white covers and pillows, as if it were a fort, right in front of the television. “We can do whatever you want today, but I thought we could watch some Christmas romantic movies, cuddling each other. What do you think?"</p><p>Juliana grinned at her. "I think it's incredible, baby, this is all so beautiful," She entered the house, absorbing every little corner of decoration, smelling the flowers that were on the way, until she reached the blankets.</p><p>She realized that there was a mattress underneath and that everything seemed to be very comfortable and perfect for the two of them to stay in place.</p><p>"In the kitchen, there are some food prepared for us, we just need to heat it up, like strawberry and chocolate fondue and-"</p><p>Valentina was interrupted with Juliana throwing herself at her and kissing her, without using the strength of her lips, but just moving them, her arms around the body of the blue-eyed woman hugging her. "Everything is perfect, Val, I can’t explain it better than that. This is everything."</p><p>She came out of Valentina's embrace and looked at her smiling even more, "Now is my time to give you your gift."</p><p>Valentina bit her lip trying to contain the huge smile that was going to come out on her lips and nodded, taking Juliana's hand and sitting with her on top of the mattresses. "I'm curious,"</p><p>Valentina said holding her hands together, sitting on top of her knee and watching closely how Juliana took a black box out of her purse and immediately put it behind her back, hiding it.</p><p>"Juuuls," Valentina complained, throwing herself backward on the couch dramatically. "I'm dying of curiosity all night,"</p><p>Juliana laughed at the drama and knelt on the mattresses, facing Valentina, a slight smile on her lips. “I spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to give you. Like, a really long time. I mean, what to give to a woman who already has everything?”</p><p>She started to speak but Valentina shook her head and spoke before Juliana continued. "I really don't need anything else, Juls," She said looking closely at Juliana. "I think if you had put a bow on your head and given yourself to me I would have received the best gift ever,"</p><p>Valentina said jokingly, making them both laugh. Juliana moved closer to her on the floor and sat down, crossing her legs, placing the black box between them.</p><p>"I asked them to do this for you-”</p><p>“Them who?” Valentina interrupted Juliana’s explanation, not being able to hold herself anymore, her curiosity was killing her. </p><p>“Well, this is a very special and single piece out there, so I went to a jewelry and-”</p><p>“You went where?” Valentina’s heart started racing when she heard that. Juliana went to a jewelry store and asked them to make her a single piece? “Juls! That must’ve costed a fortune, you didn’t have to-”</p><p>“Hey, hey,” Juliana cut her off this time. “I wanted to, okay? I wanted to give you something nice and I worked at Perlita to be able to save money and be able to give you a gift equal to what you deserve and-"</p><p>"Juls," Valentina took Juliana's hands in hers, drawing her attention. "I can't believe you did it all, Juls, babe," She stared at Juliana with her baby blue crystallized eyes. "Was that why we didn't see each other that much this month?" She asked and Juliana nodded. "Juliana-"</p><p>“Val, it didn't affect anything in my studies, I promise you. I just wanted to give you something nice, that you could use and that you could remember me.”</p><p>"You could give me a flower you picked up on the street and I would love-"</p><p>"That would be too easy, Val," Juliana laughed, cutting Valentina off again. “But continuing. I also researched a lot to find this gift for you because I also wanted something that had meaning. And I know how much you love to use things that have meanings, how much you love to study about these transmigration spiritual things and... well, this stuff.”</p><p>Valentina bit her lower lip and listened carefully to everything Juliana was saying. "And.."</p><p>Juliana laughed and opened the box, showing what was inside it. "And I chose this symbol to be part of a necklace for you to wear-"</p><p>"Oh my god, Juls," Valentina was fascinated by the object when Juliana finally opened the box and she saw the thin, golden ribbon, with an almost circular symbol at the end. "What is this symbol?" She whispered, raising her hand and taking the necklace between her fingers. "It’s so beautiful,"</p><p>"This is a Celtic symbol of love," Juliana said quietly, watching as Valentina looked at the necklace. “The perennial knot is the Celtic symbol of love, it’s a knot that never falls apart and that represents eternal union. Which is the kind of union that I hope we have,” Juliana smiled and laughing lightly, but Valentina was still mesmerized by the necklace. </p><p>"It symbolizes the eternal union of lovers beyond time and space, and as it has no beginning or end," Juliana pointed with her fingers at the symbol. "It’s also attributed to the gift of eternity, infinite life through reincarnation, which I think is a very common theme among our families as well."</p><p>Juliana finished speaking and Valentina was still absorbed. Absorbed in the explanation and beauty of the necklace. That Juliana, her sweet, sweet girlfriend Juliana had worked extra to get a gift that she thought was good enough for Valentina. As if anything she gave Valentina wasn't going to be the best thing.</p><p>"This is so- Juls," Valentina whispered and looked at Juliana, who wiped a tear that ran down Valentina's face. “Babe, I-”</p><p>"Why are you crying, Val?" Juliana asked, smiling softly.</p><p>"Because this is the sweetest and most caring gift and the best and most careful, thoughtful gift I have ever received," She sniffed and got on her knees on the mattress, getting closer to Juliana and leaning over to hug her as tightly as she could. "This gift is everything, everything, and more, Juls,"</p><p>"I'm glad you liked it," Juliana said softly, sunk in the embrace, her head in Valentina's neck, breathing in her girlfriend's scent.</p><p>"Your gift was better than all mine together," Valentina laughed, stepping out of the hug and wiping her face. "And I need to stop crying for absolutely everything, it's pathetic,"</p><p>Juliana smiled, rubbing her girlfriend's face too. “It is not pathetic. It’s cute." She kissed Valentina on the cheek. “And what other gift? I just remember getting one, and I loved it,” She gave her a peck. "There is no better gift than being able to hang around with you alone. And cuddle you."</p><p>“I have no idea how I can top this necklace that I probably won’t ever take off of my neck ever again, oh Jesus,” Valentina laughed as she started to cry again, wiping her face. “That explanation was- eternal love, really? Juliana? How can I top that, I-” She shook her head and said, shrugging. "I bought two tickets to a fashion show that is going to have one of our favorite designers-"</p><p>"Wait, what?" Juliana asked in a rush, her voice almost in a whisper. "What did you get us?"</p><p>Valentina laughed, wiping her nose. “A ticket, Juls, for both of us. For a Hedi Slimane’s show, I mean, a Celine’s show cause as you know he works there now and-”</p><p>"Are you freaking serious?l" Juliana said cheerfully, beaming as she never had. “This is the best gift ever! Will I be able to meet him too?”</p><p>"I mean, of course, love-"</p><p>"Valentina!" Juliana threw herself at her, with Valentina falling on her back on the mattress and being attacked with a fit of kisses all over her face. "This was the best Christmas ever, ever ever!"</p><p>"You really liked the gift?” Valentina asked, not really giving herself a lot of credit. “Here,” She tried to get up. “Help me put on my necklace, please?”</p><p>Juliana rose with noise and took the necklace from the blue-eyed woman's hand, going behind her and untangling the necklace, placing her hands in front of Valentina's face. "Val, what kind of question is that, obviously I loved the gift. When would I have another opportunity like this?"</p><p>"And won't you say it was an expensive gift? That you didn't need it?" Valentina asked giggling and touching the necklace pendant, feeling how Juliana smiled on her skin while giving her small kisses on her shoulders and hugged her from behind, resting her chin on the journalism student's shoulder.</p><p>"I gave you an expensive gift too, I think I would be a bit of a hypocrite if I complained about yours," Valentina laughed with her when she heard the answer and leaned back, taking Juliana in her lap and making her sit on her lap, Juliana's arms were wrapped around her neck, the two of them bending at the same time to meet in a kiss full of thanks and promises and love.</p><p>"I love you so, so much," Valentina sighed, leaning her forehead on Juliana's, who smiled and kissed her nose.</p><p>"I love you a lot and a lot and more." She set her eyes on Valentina's level. "I never imagined that I would love someone so much and so fast and so young."</p><p>Valentina beamed. "It's good being that way. We’ll have a lot more time to love each other for the rest of our lives." She gave Juliana a peck and when she went to adjust herself to better hug her, she saw that there were some boxes of DVD's in the bag that Juliana had brought. "What's that, Juls?"</p><p>Juliana turned her face away as soon as she heard her question and the smile that appeared on her face was immediate.</p><p>She leaned over and picked up the three DVD's that Chivis had given her, and when Valentina realized what they were she opened her huge blue eyes, which filled with water without wasting any time.</p><p>"I asked Chivis to give me some DVDs for us to watch any day, because I didn't know where I would find a DVD player, but I'm glad we came here, because I see that you have one here. We can watch it now if you want, before our Christmas movies."</p><p>"Juls-" Valentina started to speak but felt a lump invade her throat again, like all the times she remembered her father today.</p><p>"I didn't do that thinking you'd be sad, babe," Juliana gently wiped away a tear that had fallen on Valentina's cheek. "I just thought that after the bathroom situation, and the audio, it would be good for you to hear your father's real voice, the voice you've been listening to all your life."</p><p>Valentina just nodded, unable to say anything else about Juliana's incredibly sweet act. Another incredibly sweet act from her sweet girlfriend.</p><p>"I hadn't thought about what it should be like for you to also have to deal with all this new reality... but if I didn't get used to seeing Chino being all... all sweet and smiling- Chino no, León in Chino's body... you see? I can't even make myself explain it the right way." She rolled her eyes irritably. "But anyway, if I didn't get used to this sudden change, you wouldn't get used to it like that either. So I think I just wanted to remind you that yes, your father is no longer in the same body that you are used to, or with the same voice," She caressed Valentina’s cheek. "But he’s still alive, and he loves you. He just changed his voice, and his face, but the sweet look and the love he has for you is still there."</p><p>Valentina smiled between her silent sobs and nodded, more tears falling from her eyes, and she squeezed Juliana in a strong and sincere and needy hug. Wanting to demonstrate everything she couldn’t speak at that moment. "I love you so much, Juls."</p><p>"I love you too, love," Juliana kissed the side of Valentina's face and whispered, hugging her back as tightly as she could and giving herself up, promising to give herself over everything that loving Valentina would bring to her life, forever.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>just a lil explanation, amar a muerte started somewhere around November (dia de los muertos is novemeber 2nd) and I think that (I THINK I'm not sure) the time inside the novela ended in like april-ish (before the 2-year gap) (please i might be completely wrong), so that's why I mention as the first Christmas without the characters and bla bla, bc their first Christmas would be with the Carvajal family thinking that León was dead and the Valdés thinking that Chino had resurrected etc I hope you understood the timeline</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>